Adjacent Words

Babble definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BAB'BLE, v.i.
1. To utter words imperfectly or indistinctly, as children.
2. To talk idly or irrationally; to talk thoughtlessly.
3. To talk much; to prate; hence to tell secrets.
4. To utter sounds frequently, incessantly, or indistinctly; as a babbling echo; a babbling stream.
BAB'BLE, v.t. To prate; to utter.
BAB'BLE, n. Idle talk; senseless prattle.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: gibberish resembling the sounds of a baby [syn: babble, babbling, lallation] v
1: utter meaningless sounds, like a baby, or utter in an incoherent way; "The old man is only babbling--don't pay attention"
2: to talk foolishly; "The two women babbled and crooned at the baby" [syn: babble, blather, smatter, blether, blither]
3: flow in an irregular current with a bubbling noise; "babbling brooks" [syn: ripple, babble, guggle, burble, bubble, gurgle]
4: divulge confidential information or secrets; "Be careful--his secretary talks" [syn: spill the beans, let the cat out of the bag, talk, tattle, blab, peach, babble, sing, babble out, blab out] [ant: keep one's mouth shut, keep quiet, shut one's mouth]

Merriam Webster's

verb (babbled; babbling) Etymology: Middle English babelen, probably of imitative origin Date: 13th century intransitive verb 1. a. to talk enthusiastically or excessively b. to utter meaningless or unintelligible sounds 2. to make sounds as though babbling transitive verb 1. to utter in an incoherently or meaninglessly repetitious manner 2. to reveal by talk that is too free • babble noun • babblement noun • babbler noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 intr. a talk in an inarticulate or incoherent manner. b chatter excessively or irrelevantly. c (of a stream etc.) murmur, trickle. 2 tr. repeat foolishly; divulge through chatter. --n. 1 a incoherent speech. b foolish, idle, or childish talk. 2 the murmur of voices, water, etc. 3 Telephony background disturbance caused by interference from conversations on other lines. Derivatives: babblement n. Etymology: ME f. MLG babbelen, or imit.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Babble Bab"ble, v. i. 1. To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat, as words, in a childish way without understanding. These [words] he used to babble in all companies. --Arbuthnot. 2. To disclose by too free talk, as a secret.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Babble Bab"ble, n. 1. Idle talk; senseless prattle; gabble; twaddle. ``This is mere moral babble.'' --Milton. 2. Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur. The babble of our young children. --Darwin. The babble of the stream. --Tennyson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Babble Bab"ble, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Babbled (?);p. pr. & vb. n. Babbling.] [Cf.LG. babbeln, D. babbelen, G. bappeln, bappern, F. babiller, It. babbolare; prob. orig., to keep saying ba, imitative of a child learning to talk.] 1. To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds; as a child babbles. 2. To talk incoherently; to utter unmeaning words. 3. To talk much; to chatter; to prate. 4. To make a continuous murmuring noise, as shallow water running over stones. In every babbling he finds a friend. --Wordsworth. Note: Hounds are said to babble, or to be babbling, when they are too noisy after having found a good scent. Syn: To prate; prattle; chatter; gossip.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(babbles, babbling, babbled) 1. If someone babbles, they talk in a confused or excited way. Momma babbled on and on about how he was ruining me... They all babbled simultaneously... 'Er, hello, viewers,' he babbled. VERB: V on/away, V, V with quote 2. You can refer to people's voices as a babble of sound when they are excited and confused, preventing you from understanding what they are saying. Kemp knocked loudly so as to be heard above the high babble of voices... N-SING: usu N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. 1. Prattle, jabber, chatter, gibber, talk inarticulately. 2. Prate, chat, gossip, palaver, tattle, be loquacious, talk idly or thoughtlessly. See prate. 3. Tell secrets, tattle, blab, let the cat out of the bag. II. v. a. 1. Tell (foolishly), prate, utter, prate about. 2. Blab, let out, blab about (hither and thither). III. n. Prattle, palaver, chit-chat, gabble, twaddle, chatter, balderdash, platitude, flummery, fustian, wish-wash, stuff, drivel, moonshine, fudge, trash, nonsense, gibberish, gibble-gabble, small talk, idle talk, childish or foolish talk, frothy discourse. See prattle, n.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

Confused, unintelligible talk, such as was used at the building the tower of Babel.

Moby Thesaurus

Aesopian language, Babel, Greek, absurdity, amphigory, argot, babblement, baffle, balderdash, bavardage, be Greek to, be beyond one, be indiscreet, be insane, be too deep, be unguarded, beat one, betray, betray a confidence, bibble-babble, blab, blabber, blah-blah, blather, blether, blethers, blurt, blurt out, bombast, bubble, bull, bullshit, burble, cackle, cant, caquet, caqueterie, chat, chatter, chattering, chitchat, chitter-chatter, cipher, clack, claptrap, clatter, code, cryptogram, disclose, dither, divulge, dote, double Dutch, double-talk, drivel, drool, escape one, fiddle-faddle, fiddledeedee, flummery, folderol, fudge, fustian, gab, gabble, galimatias, gammon, garble, gas, gibber, gibberish, gibble-gabble, gift of tongues, give away, glossolalia, go on, gobbledygook, gossip, guff, guggle, gurgle, gush, have a demon, haver, hocus-pocus, hot air, hubbub, humbug, idle talk, inform, inform on, jabber, jabberwocky, jargon, jaw, jumble, lap, leak, let drop, let fall, let slip, lose one, mere talk, mumbo jumbo, murmur, narrishkeit, natter, need explanation, niaiserie, noise, nonsense, nonsense talk, not make sense, not penetrate, pack of nonsense, palaver, pass comprehension, patter, peach, perplex, piffle, plash, pour forth, prate, prating, prattle, prittle-prattle, purl, rabbit, rage, ramble, ramble on, rant, rat, rattle, rattle on, rave, reel off, repeat, reveal, reveal a secret, riddle, rigamarole, rigmarole, ripple, rodomontade, rubbish, run amok, run mad, run on, scramble, secret language, sing, skimble-skamble, slang, slaver, slobber, slosh, speak in tongues, spill, spill the beans, splash, spout, spout off, squeal, stool, stuff and nonsense, stultiloquence, swash, swish, talk, talk away, talk double Dutch, talk nonsense, talk on, talkee-talkee, tattle, tattle on, tell, tell on, tell secrets, tell tales, tittle-tattle, trash, trill, trumpery, twaddle, twattle, twiddle-twaddle, vapor, vaporing, waffle, waffling, wander, wash, yak, yakkety-yak, yammer, yap